Download The Story of DNA vs. RNA

The Story of
DNA vs. RNA
A tale of two
Nucleic Acids
DNA
► Deoxyribonucleic
Acid
► Made up of five kinds of atoms
§  Phosphorous
§  Carbon
§  Nitrogen
§  Oxygen
§  Hydrogen
► How
did we find out that DNA was
the molecule responsible for
inheritance?
Hershey and Chase’s experiment.
► There
are only four bases
in DNA
§  Adenine
§  Thymine
§  Guanine
§  Cytosine
► The
base pairs always follow certain rules
§  Adenine always pairs with Thymine
§  Cytosine always pairs with Guanine
A
T
and
G
C
DNA Replication
► Making
an exact copy of itself
► Always follows the base pair rules
► Happens before Mitosis and Meiosis
The Genetic Code
► What
is the Genetic Code?
► Why does it matter to you?
► The
Genetic Code controls the production of
proteins.
§  Proteins help to determine the size, shape and
many other traits of an organism.
► The
order of the nitrogen bases along a
strand of DNA determine the type of protein
that will be produced
Protein Synthesis
► The
process that transforms information on
a gene to a protein
► How can you tell your DNA is different than
that of someone else?
RNA
► Ribonucleic
Acid
§  Ribose sugar not Deoxyribose
► Four
Bases
§  Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Uracil (replaces
Thymine)
► Three
Kinds of RNA
§  Messenger, Transfer, Ribosomal
► Transcription
movie
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
► Takes
message from the gene (DNA) to the
ribosome in the cytoplasm
Transfer RNA (tRNA)
► Carries
the amino acid to the growing
protein chain
► Each tRNA is specific for an amino acid
Mutations
► Changes
to the DNA or RNA sequence
► Can be wrong base, addition of a base or
subtraction of a base
§  Point Mutation, Frame Shift, Deletion
► A
mutation makes cells produce incorrect
proteins
► Some mutations helpful, some hurtful, some
it makes no difference
Talk to your neighbor
►  How
could a mutation be helpful?
►  How could a mutation be hurtful?
Questions?
The End